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Friday, November 18, 2011

Learning more about 'Writing to the Point' - Kerrigan's approach to writing instruction

I first learned about the William J. Kerrigan's Writing to the Point from Catherine. She had high praise for this book on writing instruction, calling it "brilliant" and attracting my attention with this.

After years of letting the book collect dust on a shelf, I finally decided to read it and learn the Kerrigan method in detail. I'm almost halfway through this project, becoming more convinced with each assignment that this approach would work for many students who struggle with writing. The precision and clarity of the Kerrigan method is refreshing, especially after observing so many different variations on writing instruction that often appeared confusing and distracting. (Venn diagrams, cloud-charts, math journals and three-page rubrics - I'm looking at you.)

I'm blogging about my journey through Writing to the Point over at Cost of College, and here are the first three installments.

This writing method is the best writing method I have ever seen. Early in my career, I came to grips with the realization that not everyone wanted to be an English major in college, nor for that matter, even liked to write essays. However, if students simply follow this "formula" that is clear and logically organized, they can be successful writers in spite of their aversion to required composition in high school and college.